Ski posts can be located along the terrain of a ski mountain to serve a variety of purposes. For example, the elongated shafts can retain signs to warn of danger, and they can mark the course of a slalom race. Ski mountain personnel normally must use boring tools to bore sufficiently deep holes in the snow and ice to accommodate the ski posts. Since electrical outlets generally are not available on the mountain, drill bits must be rotated by cordless hand drills.
Bits presently employed for boring ski post holes suffer from a number of marked deficiencies. Often, the bits are borrowed from other arts, and, as such, they are ill-suited to the present task. Considering first the cutting head of the drill, bits from different arts have drill heads of far less than an optimum configuration for boring in the unique materials of snow and ice. Improper drill heads exhibit poor cutting action. For example, workers often bore ski post holes with hammer drill bits that are intended to be used on masonry and the like where the workpiece material is to be pulverized with a hammer action. These bits crush the snow and push it out of the way more than they cut it and excavate it from the hole. Other bits, such as ship augurs, dull too quickly. With regard to the effective length of the bits, most bits taken from different fields are not long enough to permit a worker to bore a sufficiently deep hole without bending over very far or kneeling. Although this may be permissible in many other applications, it is unacceptable in boring ski post holes since the actor often is wearing ski boots the rigidity of which does not readily permit bending or crouching and since many holes may must be drilled in rapid succession (i.e., in a slalom race where flags have been knocked over or the course is to be rearranged). With regard to the excavation helices of alternative-art bits, by their very nature they are intended to excavate different materials than snow and ice. As such, they have been found to clog and demonstrate poor excavation characteristics. This is particularly the case when snow is wet and sticky as in the springtime. Also, the excavation helices or prior art bits exhibit excessive resistance to rotation in the bore hole. Further still and likely of greatest importance, bits taken from other arts tend to be unsuitable for field use with cordless drills, particularly when one seeks to bore ski post holes. Due to excessive weight, disadvantageous head or helix design, or unsuitable material selection, the drill bits have been found to wear the cordless drill batteries rapidly, to require excess effort to carry and use, and, most importantly, to overload and to damage cordless drill mechanisms. Such damage to the drills results in excess expense in the form of down time and drill repair or replacement.
Naturally, the obvious deficiencies exhibited by alternative-art bits have prompted attempts to provide modified or specifically-adapted bits. Unfortunately, as one problem has been addressed, other difficulties have been created, exacerbated, or ignored. Some recognized that the prior art bits were too short, so they sought or created longer bits or provided extensions for present bits. However, resulting bits have proven to be too heavy for a cordless drill, and damage and wear problems have increased. Also, the length of the bits has made them vulnerable to bending and breaking. Some bits have been provided which are lighter, but these have demonstrated undesirable warping tendencies even when constructed of relatively short length. In sum, it has been observed that whenever one deficiency such as length, weight, strength, cutting ability, excavation ability, or durability has been addressed, one or more other problems has been worsened or left untouched; achieving a simultaneous balance of desirable characteristics has proven unattainable thus far.
In light of the above, it becomes clear that there is a true need for a bit specifically adapted for boring ski post holes which bores well through snow, ice and earth, is sufficiently long for its purpose, exhibits exemplary debris excavation characteristics over a variety of conditions, and presents minimal peripheral resistance to rotation--all while being strong, durable, and lightweight.